Circular warp knitting machine



Patented July 13, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CIRCULAR WARPKNITTING MACHINE Application March 26, 1934, Serial No. 717,510 InGermany April 7, 1933 3 Claims.

but out of phase with each other'or one aiter the other, and since thefabric .wilkthenlbe either urged by the two groups in oppositeiiirections or held down by one group while the other operates, the needfor presser rings which cause a great deal of vibration and noise, orfor web-holders which complicate the machine con- 20 struction, will beeliminated. Besides, since only half the number of needles are engagedin loop making at any particular time, the supervision of the machinewill be easy, and since the spacing of the threads will becorrespondingly doubled, entanglement of threads and the trouble andwaste of time accompanying such entanglement will be avoided.

Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing represents a fragmentary sectionalview of a knitting machine constructed according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is an elevation at right angles to Fig. 1,

Figs. 36 are diagrams illustrating the needle positions at difierentstages of the knitting operation,

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a machine of modifiedconstruction, and

Figs. 8-11 are diagrams illustrating the needle movements obtainablewith the modified machine construction.

In the illustrated arrangements, the machine comprises a needle cylinder9 having vertical tricks in which the knitting needles are slidablymounted in the usual manner. In Figs. 1 and 2 the needles are controlledand operated by rocking levers Ill and II which are fulcrumed on pivotsI! carried by bearing brackets IS, the latter being mounted on a supportH secured to the needle cylinder 9. There is one rockinglever for eachneedle, and the butts of the needles engage in forks at the ends of thelevers so that the rocking movement of the levers will result in an upand down movement of the needles. Levers l alternate with levers II, theformer being double-armed and the latter singlearmed. A verticallyreciprocated operating ring I8 is provided with arms i3 and I securedtothe ring by means of leads M. The arms 13 engage the levers I0pivotally at one side of the fulcrum l2, and the arms l5 engage thelevers l I in the same way but at the opposite side of the fulcrum. Theresult of this arrangement is that one group of alternately arrangedneedles will be moved upwards while the other group is moved downwardsby the operating ring l8.

Figs. 3-6 illustrate the needle movements rela- .tive to the cylindertrick wall 25 of the machine. Six consecutively numbered needles areshown in these figures, (eight needles in Fig. 2), the needles with oddnumbers being operated by the levers H and those with even numbers, bythe levers Ill. In Fig. 3 the needles with odd numbers are descendingand the needles with even numbers are being raised by the downwardlymoving operating ring i8. At a further stage of the movement, all theneedles will be on a level with one another, as shown in Fig. 4. At

a still further stage, the needles with even numbers will be on a higherlevel than those with odd numbers, as shown in Fig. 5. When theoperating ring i8 reaches its lowermost position, the needles willoccupy the position shown in Fig. 6 which is reversed from that of Figs.1

, and 2. Thereupon the operating ring begins to move upwards, and whileloops are being formed bythe needles with even numbers, those with oddnumbers are raised to the initial position shown in Fig. 2.

Since one group' of needles moves upwards while the other movesdownwards, the tendency of the fabric to follow the needles will have noeffect, and the usual drawing-off mechanism will be sufficient to keepthe fabric in position.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. '7 there are two independently movingoperating rings 21 and 24, one for each group of needles. The butts ofthe latter engage in forks l9 and 22 connected respectively to leads 20and 23 on the two rings,

the lever action previously described being thus' dispensed with. Whilethe movement of the operating rings 2|] and 24 can be controlledso as.to produce the same action as that described in connection with Figs. 1and 2, the action can i be varied according to requirements, forinstance so that one group of needles remains stationary while the otheris operated. v

Figs. 8-11 illustrate such anaction. In Fig. 8 the needles With oddnumbers are about to descend and will do so while the needles with evennumbers remain stationary in their lowermost positions. When both setsof needles are level as shown in Fig. 9, the needles with even numberswill be raised, as shown in Fig. 10, while the needles with odd numbersremain stationary, and when the needles with even num bers again arrivein the lowermost position, as shown in Fig. 11, the cycle of operationsis repeated.

In the illustrated arrangements vertically operating latch needles areemployed, but bearded needles can be operated in the same manner. Thearrangement is also suitable for horizontally operating needles as wellas for machines wherein both vertically and horizontally operatingneedles are employed at the same time.

I claim:

1. In a circular warp knitting machine, the combination with a needlecylinder and with needles arranged in tricks in said cylinder, of arocking lever operatively engaging each needle, a support whereon eachlever is fulcrumed, an operating ring, and arms on said ring pivotallyconnected to the different levers for rocking the latter, adjacentlevers having their pivotal connection with the arms situated atopposite sides of the support so as to be rocked in opposite directions.

2. In a circular warp knitting machine, the combination with a needlecylinder and with needles arranged in tricks in said cylinder, of twoindependently movable operating rings for said needles, adjacent needlesbeing connected to different rings.

3. A circular warp knitting machine comprising a needle cylinder,needles carried thereby, the needles being divided into two groups, theneedles of one group being intercalated with the needles of the othergroup, all of said needles being operated simultaneously, but theneedles of one group being operated out of phase with the needles of theother group.

MAX RICHARD BoHMER.

